Disclaimer
Before I do, I need to clarify something very important. This is not Distant Worlds 3303, this is not Distant Worlds 2. This is going under a different name and is going to be similar to one of the optional waypoints we had on Distant Worlds (akin to waypoint #12; Altum Sagittarrii). It's an optional, but important expedition. It's called Distant Stars, and we are going somewhere seldom few (if any) have ever gone before, we are going to a new place that has had explorers intrigued for nearly 2 years, a place that was always just beyond the horizon, always just out of reach. The Jumponium era came, and yet explorers still couldn't make that final leap into the unknown. But now we can! Neutron supercharges have opened up these once out of bound regions, and, in the spirit of my recent video that shook up the community, the face of exploration is once again going to change as a consequence. This is a mission of science, one that takes us into brand new territory, and will be part of the Galactic Mapping Project (see the description below).The Destination - The Country of Origin

[picture of the galmap of M67]
Let me tell you about a star cluster called M67 Elysium, also designated NGC 2682 - the oldest open star cluster in the Messier catalogue. It's a cluster of stars that is approximately 3000 LYs from Sol. It is home to many stars that are very similar to our G2V class sun, and are about the same age. Because it is close, for many many years, astronomers thought that our sun was probably born there, and was ejected. Astronomers think most stars are born in clusters like these. A paper has come out that surmises that this is actually extremely unlikely, but I like to think that it is still possible.

Pilots, we are going to go to M67 and see. You may know it as the Cancri Cluster.

The Story So Far
We don't claim to be the first, as others will have most likely been eyeing this cluster for some time too, but Virgil Kyle and I found a route, and we tested it out with Erimus and proved to ourselves that it can indeed be reached. See the video where there is the footage of us making the jump into the entry point of the cluster, AH Cancri, something that hasn't been possible until now, and then after jumping into the cluster itself. We invite everyone to join us and go into the cluster and discover it's secrets together, maybe even find siblings of the sun that shines on us.

As you can see, we self-destructed and didn't explore any further. We don't think it is right for this to be something only a select few get to see, so we want to invite everyone to come along and explore it as a community. We hope that Distant Stars will provide everyone with the opportunity to come, and stake claim on something in the cluster, and hunt for interesting things like alien relics, great views, weird stars and orbits, and who knows? We will set up an entire infrastructure for everyone to get involved.

Warnings
Now time for the caveats. This is to be a suicide mission, as there is no proven way back. Maybe Frontier might let us create a gateway back, who knows? But going in, you have to know you won't be coming back without a hefty insurance claim. And that's the second point, the insurance will be several million (around 7 million for a stripped down explorer-conda) because the only way there is via a 54-55 LY range Anaconda. That is why we are not going to go out until probably January, perhaps longer, to give everyone a chance to get a long range ship, and for those that can't, multi-crew will be out by then so they can tag along with someone who has.

What's Next?
The 3 or so months building up to the expedition will be part of the expedition itself. The challenge of a Distant Worlds expedition is still present in full. We have asked the Rock Rats to set up a service to help people get all the mats needed to engineer their anacondas (see the fourth post in this thread), and there will be programs to help people get the credits to buy them if they don't have them already. It's going to be a big challenge. And again, for those that simply can't do it, hopefully multi-crew will solve that problem and let you guys come with anyway. We hope everyone signs up without the slightest hesitation.

Remember, this is emphatically notDistant Worlds 2, which itself will not be announced until we hear news on what 2.4 or Season 3 brings, as Distant Worlds 3303 will be built around the new content FD bring us. But this is a very important primer for Distant Worlds 2, because we would very much like to set some hard to reach waypoints there, and if you use Distant Stars as motivation to get your ships up to spec, this is more likely to happen.

We don't do it because it is easy! We do it because it is hard...

There will be meetup points, waypoints and we will have a role of cartographer and be assigning (at random) systems to pilots or groups of pilots, to see what they can find. We will also try to establish some kind of reward system for any really interesting finds, like alien sites.

It will most likely end with a mass suicide for anyone who wants to go back. It won't be long.

A Polite Request
Remember, we do not claim credit for being the first to reach this cluster. Chances are players will go there solo before this expedition launches. But compared to a social event, those solo trips will become irrelevant. There is no way to come back anyway so it would be fitting if this particular cluster was explored via a community event, with a scientific purpose, roleplayed or not.

The 'Cancri Climb' route will be published closer to the time, and we ask, politely, that should there be any players that want to go there early, please don't give away anything! This special event can be for the entire community to enjoy, and we hope many of you will sign up and help others reach it if they can already.

This is potentially the birth place of our sun! I hope it will be for all of us to see and chart together, and not the prize of a few.

Good Luck!
We look forward to going on this very important, magnificent trip with all of you. Please join us into the Distant Stars.

Recommended Ship Loadout:

There are 3 ships that can make it:

Anaconda (easiest to engineer)

Asp (very hard to engineer)

DBX (almost impossible)

The Rock Rats are starting a service to help people get money and mats to engineer their ships up to spec. At the moment, they have created the following document as a guide to getting an Anaconda up to 58ly, which should be more than enough to bring SRVs and fighter bays

This is a much shorter trip that will take no more than a day or two to reach our destination, and no more than a week or two to complete the mapping objective once there (depending on how many players come along).

Distant Worlds 3303 will be just as epic in its scale and scope as Distant Worlds 3302 was, and therefore we are saving that for the release of 2.4 or Season 3 (whichever lends itself best to deep space exploration). DW3303 will be specifically built around the new content that either of those upgrades bring. Details of DW3303 will be posted shortly after the announcement of Horizons release 2.4.

In the meantime, we have "Distant Stars"... read on for details...

Distant Stars Mission Background (Roleplay Perspective) :

On October 25th 3302, the Galactic Mapping Project team sent a lone cartographer out to a neutron star, nicknamed 'Decision', which was discovered a while ago by CMDR Macros Black.

The unnamed GMP cartographer was asked to test if a route to AH Cancri, high above this neutron star, could be reached using a new technology that allowed frame shift drives to become supercharged by neutron jet streams - thus boosting range by 300% for a single jump. If successful, this would allow any ship with a base jump range of approximately 55 LYs, to neutron jump from Decision to AH Cancri, and thus open up a new route into the once out of reach M67 Star Cluster.

The last message received from the cartographer stated that the jump was successful, and a subspace message containing a schematic system map of the AH Cancri Star system was beamed back to the Mapping Team Listening post, based at the Galileo Space Station in Sol. A short time later, a second message containing information on a star system within the cluster itself, was received - thus showing that the secondary Jumponium jump into M67 itself had been successful.

No more data was received from the region, and the fate of the pilot remains a mystery.

The Mapping Team are asking for intrepid volunteers to continue this venture and follow the scientific route listed below to the very foot of the 'Cancri Climb'. And await further instructions....

A few words of warning :

This expedition is unlike many others that have gone before it. The waypoints have been specifically chosen based on their hazardous nature. You will not be coming back with data to sell from this one - stop reading here if you just lost interest!

On this trip to the cluster you will visit a Pulsar that spins at more 1,000 times per second! Get caught in the jet and drop out of supercruise, and you're pretty much going to die.

The next waypoint will take you to the very edge of the corona of a dying S-Class star. Our first basecamp landing is on the sun-baked side of a tiny planet situated in the corona. If you don't take heat sinks you will burn up before ever making landfall there. The world also has high gravitational forces, in the region of 2 G. Good pilot landing skills will be essential for safe arrival to this sun-scorched basecamp.

The next waypoint contains a back hole and neutron binary pair... two of the most hazardous stellar objects known to man. Here we will attempt a neutron jump to waypoint 4. If it goes wrong, you're pretty much dead again.

Waypoint 4 gives us some respite. An unremarkable Orange Giant star where those who are still with us can regroup and prepare for the Cancri Climb.

The Cancri Climb will test your navigational and route-plotting skills. Over the next 500 LYs you will need good Jumponium management and neutron skimming skills to make it to the final rendezvous point at the base of the Cluster. After that, its a leap into the unknown, and no way back.

Remember - this is a one way trip. You will either die en-route, or make it to M67 only to be stranded there forever! (well... until you self destruct).

You will need a ship capable of at least 54-55 LYs jump range.

You will need around 6.5 million credits in cash to cover its insurance (based on it being fitted with nothing too expensive).

You will need to fit heat sinks to visit Basecamp #1.

It is recommended that you take enough materials for around 3 x J1 Jumponium Boosts, 3 x J2 Jumponium Boosts, and 3 x J3 Jumponium Boosts.

As journeys go, this one is pretty short. Just 3,000 LYs all in all. The actual trip to the cluster is expected to last no more than a couple of days.

The Early Phase Itinerary (scheduled for January 3303) :

The expedition will be launched from Obsidian Orbital, in the Pleiades.

The Pleiades is home to Merope, a system made famous as being the location where some of the earliest barnacles where discovered (Merope 3C).

The expedition will make a brief stop at Merope 3C before heading out into the black.

Distance to the next waypoint : 1,140 Light Years

From there it is a climb 'up' through the galactic plane to the Bell-Burnell Pulsar.

This spectacular pulsar is one of the closest to Sol, and is an ideal location for the scientific community to do some localized study.

A scientific outpost close to this system would make for a great future CG.

These two scorched worlds are situated so close to their S-Class parent star that you need heat sinks to visit them!

The surface view from the 2g worlds is spectacular.

Distance to the next waypoint : 600 Light Years

From here we head away from the outer frontier worlds, and travel to the Brüder Grimm Black Hole & Neutron Star.

Two more scientifically interesting objects that deserve further study.

Those wishing to save time on the next leg can test their first neutron jump of the trip using the Grimm Neutron.

Distance to the next waypoint : 310 Light Years

From Brüder Grimm the stars thin out so route plotting may have to be done manually from this point onward.

We're heading to the Monoceros Orange Giant at the foot of the 'Cancri Climb' - our final waypoint before the climb begins.

We regroup in orbit around the Giant Star, using it as the final staging post before phase two of the expedition starts (phase 2 details will appear here closer to the mission launch date).

Distance to the next waypoint : < 250 Light Years

The Later Phase Itinerary (scheduled for January 3303) :

Mission Goals -

To fully chart the M67 Star Cluster

To add all systems within it to EDSM

To mark on the Mapping Thread, interesting stellar and surface POIs

To create an Imgur Album of all major geological POIs

Despite the nature of this expedition - i.e a one way trip, with no way to claim first discovery tags - the mapping team are encouraging players who take part in the event to name some of the worlds within the cluster. These names will obviously be unofficial, but if they follow the mapping project naming guideline (see here), they will be marked on the EDSM interactive map.

* Make sure you have enough fuel for the next 3 jumps here ! - Use Dr. Kaii's Fuel Calculator at this waypoint, before moving on to the next waypoint. You must use a J2 to get to the next system on the route and continue through all the waypoints as instructed for it to be accurate.

Each flotilla will wing in a maximum of 50 pilots into their individual instance.
DSE participants are advised to send in game friend requests to each of the beacon pilots - do this before 1700 gametime on Sunday 15th Jan.

If you want to join an official fleet instance during the fleet build up at Obsidian Orbital, in game you will need to hail one of the Flotilla beacon pilots listed above and request a wing invite.

The procedure:

1. Join the Fleetcomm private group (if you're not a member join it now, details here : Link)
2. From 1700 Gametime on Sunday, begin massing in orbit around the primary star in the Maia system.
3. In game choose a beacon pilot from the list above and ask for a wing invite. The beacon pilot will add you as soon as they can or ask you to hail another beacon pilot. Once you're winged, engage wingman navlock onto your beacon pilot, and head to Obsidian Orbital. You should arrive within the same instance as your chosen Flotilla.
4. Once you're confirmed as being in an official Flotilla instance outside of Obsidian Orbital, please leave the wing, then help wing in fellow fleet members by sending out your own wing invites to those requesting wings on the #wing-beacon channel on the DSE Discord Server (join the server here : Link).
5. Once your instance approaches 50 players, immediately cease winging pilots in.

At 1800 Gametime the Flotilla leaders will coordinate a mass launch. All ships in each Flotilla need to set course to Merope, and align to that system.
Keep an eye on local chat for the launch countdown. Everyone is to launch on your beacon pilots command.

Use the Flotilla Coordination voice channel to listen out for important info and instructions during the launch event. Note : only Flotilla leaders have the ability to speak on that channel.

The Journey to Cancri :

From Merope pilots are free to travel to the next waypoints at their leisure (coordinated jumps not required), but please be at Hades Edge basecamp by 1930 if possible, and early arrivals please help fellow pilots reach the landing site by sending out wing invites to those asking for them in local chat.

The fleet will spend approx. 1 hour at the Hades Edge basecamp to give late arrivals and stragglers time to catch up.

At 2030 the fleet will depart for the Cancri Climb waypoint. From there the next fleet mass gathering will be at the Decision Point neutron star at 2200. Once the fleet has assembled, another mass jump will occur into the AH Cancri star system.

This concludes day 1 of the DSE mission. Surveying of the star cluster will officially begin from Monday 16th January 3303 and is expected to last until Sunday 29th January, at which point the DSE fleet will gather at the Anaconda's Graveyard to say farewell.

The Basecamps :

The Hades Edge basecamp is situated on the inner-most world (planet 1) of the HD 49368 star system. The world is not tidally locked so to ensure the basecamp is on the sun lit side of the world at 1930 gametime on Sunday 15th January, the landing site will be scouted a couple of hours prior to the fleet arrival there. Surface coordinates will be posted in this thread and on the DSE discord announcements channel once we have them.

The AH Cancri basecamp coordinates have yet to be scouted due to the nature of the location (i.e. a one way trip). We will send out an advanced scout to look for a suitable location and relay its coordinates to the fleet prior to our arrival there.

The Anaconda's Graveyard is situated high above the Canciri Cluster and will require two J3 jumps to reach. Details of this historic basecamp will be announced toward the end of the survey mission.

To this endeavor, I do swear myself: I shall climb the golden tree of glittering stars until I reach the highest heavens. I shall sail across the vast divide of inky blackness, through tempest and tumult, until I reach those fortunate isles known as... Elysium.

Some notes:

This table is manually updated (by solitary, little old me), but I endeavor to do so regularly, so don't fret if your name doesn't appear for a few days! It will... Eventually

Also, if you are signed in via a Google account when you fill in the registration form, you will be able to make changes to your data (Sweet, eh?). When we finally close the roster in a few months, we will go through all the changes and update the table (not before).

Last, but certainly not least, I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to everyone for coming with us on this great adventure I believe this expedition is truly ALL of ours, in the end. In my opinion, that's what makes 'Distant Stars' so great: Without the ability to officially claim systems using the in-game mechanic, we all get to share in the joys and wonder of the discoveries we make in the cluster, together. As Kaii said, this journey is truly ALL about the discovery and, personally, I think that's a very, very special thing

I can't wait to make this journey with all of you fine folks - Excelsior, my friends, and Godspeed!

The organizers of Distant Stars 3303 have asked the Rock-Rats, renowned for their support in finding materials for Jumponium during the Distant Worlds 3302, to provide a documentation about how a ship with the minimum of 55 ly jumprange can be outfitted and modified using the engineers.

With the goal of 55 ly jumprange only three ships will be suitable for that. The ASP Explorer, the Anaconda and under the very best circumstances the Diamondback Explorer. We recommend to use the Anaconda - it is easier to achieve the needed range and in most cases you will be able to outfit it better for the trip (Heat sinks! Shields and more powerful Thrusters, a boostable Distributor).

Another thing you should definitely practice before going on the expedition is how to escape from the neutron-star-jet should the worst happen: a drop from supercruise. CMDR Domaq has summarized his experience with that here.

Should anyone need further assistance please pop into the #prospectors-channel in the Fleetcomm Discord. The Rock-Rats are online daily and will respond quickly.

This post will be amended in the course of the next 2-3 months if needed.

Count me in ! Bringing the one and only companion I have for the void, Star's End

Reaching the required jump range shouldn't be that hard with excessively good fuel management on the ASP, and the right engineer mods. Will spend the next months testing everything once I'm back from the current exploration trip.

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Here's a first-hand build of the ASP that could allow for such venture to be taken part of :